Crankshaft wrote:Am I correct in assuming that this season, any positive coaching changes will be the result of J. Martin and anything bad will be Byslma's fault?

As was said above:

In 4 seasons, we've seen minimal changes from Byslma, so yes, any noticeable changes would lead one to believe that it was a result of Martin.

People are going to believe that after Bylsma has failed 4 years in a row while being stubborn that he's finally seen the light and will implement his own changes and that Martin has nothing to do with it?

We will see a new look defensively, one from the book of Martin and hopefully the elimination of the stretch pass. We don't need to play open, run and gun hockey. We have enough scoring talent up front to take advantage of miscues and hopefully play a sound defensive game instead.

I loved how they didn't try to crowd everyone in the same area in the arena today. I think maybe the the team expected to fill up the whole lower bowl since they had such a good turnout for the prospect practice in July.

Bennett and Jokinen looked capable, comfortable, and confident, which bodes well for the season. Jokinen is so underrated. I know the Pens may not have much toughness throughout the lineup, but his skill all over the ice should be a defensive and offensive boon.

I hope the Pens don't run into any injuries, but if any appear on defense, I could see Pouliot getting a 9 game tryout. He isn't handling the physicality as well as Maatta, but the playmaking is impressive.

I don't recall seeing Harrison Ruopp at all, so perhaps he is still injured from the previous day?

Pouliot was really good offensively, but if they needed more bodies past the current top 8 (Scuderi, Letang, Orpik, Martin, Niskanen, Bortuzzo, Despres, Engelland), Brian Dumoulin would likely be the guy. I don't think Pouliot can defend at an NHL level yet and another thing that would be against him is the Pens being up against the cap; Pouliot's hit is the highest of any prospect at a little more than $1.3M; everyone else is 925K or less. Every dollar matters.

There's been a lot of concern over the changing identity/style of the third line, but so far, so good. If you have a trio that's defensively responsible and skates well, that can shutdown guys pretty effectively. That kind of line might not wear guys down as much, but then again, if Sutter and company have the puck a lot, that forces the other team to play D, and that will wear you down too.

I was not at all impressed with Bortuzzo in the scrimmage. I just don't see the upside with him. If you're going to give someone NHL minutes, give it to Maata or Pouliot whose ceilings seem much higher to me.

For all of the talk about Dumoulin, I can't say that he has stood out for me so far, same with Harrington. WIll be interesting to see the preseason games.

netwolf wrote:Pouliot was really good offensively, but if they needed more bodies past the current top 8 (Scuderi, Letang, Orpik, Martin, Niskanen, Bortuzzo, Despres, Engelland), Brian Dumoulin would likely be the guy. I don't think Pouliot can defend at an NHL level yet and another thing that would be against him is the Pens being up against the cap; Pouliot's hit is the highest of any prospect at a little more than $1.3M; everyone else is 925K or less. Every dollar matters.

There's been a lot of concern over the changing identity/style of the third line, but so far, so good. If you have a trio that's defensively responsible and skates well, that can shutdown guys pretty effectively. That kind of line might not wear guys down as much, but then again, if Sutter and company have the puck a lot, that forces the other team to play D, and that will wear you down too.

i think i noticed pouliot more since he played in the scrimmage. i was kind of worn out by the time group b got out for practice to really notice dumoulin either way. plus, the flashy offensive skills are always much more noticeable.

netwolf wrote:Pouliot was really good offensively, but if they needed more bodies past the current top 8 (Scuderi, Letang, Orpik, Martin, Niskanen, Bortuzzo, Despres, Engelland), Brian Dumoulin would likely be the guy. I don't think Pouliot can defend at an NHL level yet and another thing that would be against him is the Pens being up against the cap; Pouliot's hit is the highest of any prospect at a little more than $1.3M; everyone else is 925K or less. Every dollar matters.

There's been a lot of concern over the changing identity/style of the third line, but so far, so good. If you have a trio that's defensively responsible and skates well, that can shutdown guys pretty effectively. That kind of line might not wear guys down as much, but then again, if Sutter and company have the puck a lot, that forces the other team to play D, and that will wear you down too.

Sutter's line looked great in last year's preseason, too. And then...not so much.

whatever we had last year in the pre-season was more than we've had so far this year. i'm not looking to jump to conclusions. i'm simply responding to one of netwolf's observations. unless that' not allowed for some reason.